Saturday October 25, 2008FinishedGoodison Park

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MIAMI - David Beckham's potential move to AC Milan is still at an 'exploratory' stage, a senior Major League Soccer official told Reuters on Thursday, insisting the player will need to return for the start of the 2009 MLS season

MLS Deputy Commissioner Ivan Gazidis, who has the final say on all player transactions including loans, said the deal will not go ahead unless the Galaxy are sure that Beckham will return for the opening of the season in March.

"We are in exploratory talks to look at whether the opportunity makes sense for the Galaxy and David. If it does - and only if it does - then things will go forward," Gazidis told Reuters.

"I don't think the Galaxy have any interest in him missing regular season games," he added.

With the European transfer window only opening in January, Beckham would have less than three months to play with Milan before he needed to be back in the States.

"He would need to be back (for the MLS start), we are talking about a short term loan," said Gazidis, who compared the potential move to Swedish striker Henrik Larsson's brief spell with Manchester United.

Larsson spent three months with United, on loan from Helsingborg, during the Swedish off-season last year.

END OF ADVENTURE

Gazidis said reports that the loan could mark the beginning of the end for Beckham's American adventure that started when he joined from Real Madrid in 2007 were without foundation.

"There is absolutely no suggestion on anyone's part that David will not play for the full five years of his contract."

The former England captain has been keen to keep his international career alive and won his 107th cap as a late substitute in last week's World Cup qualifier win over Belarus.

Last year he trained with English Premier League side Arsenal in a bid to keep fit for England and his switch to Milan is seen as achieving the same goal - but this time he would be free to play league games for the Italian club.

"We have always been very supportive of David's desire to be part of the England set-up and we will continue to be so," said Gazidis.

Galaxy general manager and head coach Bruce Arena was cited by local media as considering the move "odd" but Gazidis said there could be benefits for the club.

"To have David playing at a high-level, match-fit and returning highly tuned, would be positive for the Galaxy and MLS," he said.

Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani confirmed on Thursday that there were still details to be finalised before the move went through.

"The deal isn't completed yet. We have to decide on it all with his lawyers and with Galaxy," La Gazzetta dello Sport's website (www.gazzetta.it) quoted Galliani as telling Conto TV before Milan's 3-1 win at Heerenveen in the UEFA Cup.

"I am confident but it is absolutely not finalised. We have time over the next few weeks to settle the deal in full agreement with Galaxy, as we don't want to wrong the Californian club in any way."

mercoledì 1 ottobre 2008

The Ivory Coast striker was injured early in the second-half after colliding awkwardly with home defender Cadu as he slid in to try and convert a left-wing cross from Florent Malouda.

Cluj and Chelsea now share top spot in Group A with four points and it was the Romanians who had the better of the chances with Eugen Trica hitting the outside of the post late on.

The minnows defended deep and in numbers and counter-attacked effectively with Uruguyan Alvaro Pereira's fierce diagonal shot narrowly wide of the left post, the closest the capacity crowd came to seeing a goal in the opening 45 minutes.

Petr Cech also had to be alert to push Pereira's close range shot around the post in the closing stages after Jose Bosingwa failed to track the left-back.

Chelsea had plenty of possession but lacked a cutting edge and barely tested home keeper Eduard Stanciou.

Probably the Londoners' best chance came when a long diagonal ball reached half-time substitute Nicolas Anelka at the back post but instead of striking first time, he opted for a touch and his final effort was well wide as he tried to readjust his feet.

Frank Lampard, who had a close range effort blocked by Cadu just after half-time, scuffed a shot from the edge of the penalty area wide of the post in injury-time as the Premier League club were held in north-western Transylvania.

There was little of note in the opening 45 minutes although the home fans were excited when Trica found himself in space in the penalty area on two occasions but he failed to test Cech with volleys while only a vital header from Alex prevented Tony's deep cross finding the striker.

The Blues were ineffective going forward with Drogba failing to make any contact with an attempted volley when well placed and also putting a shot high and wide from the edge of the penalty area.

John Obi Mikel tried his luck from long range but his 30-yard shot trickled into the arms of Stanciou while Salomon Kalou could not control a bouncing through ball from Drogba when well placed as Cluj, who shocked Roma with a 2-1 win at the Stadio Olimpico in their Champions League debut, continued to show they are not to be taken lightly.

Lionel Messi scored a brilliant winner four minutes into stoppage time to give Barcelona a 2-1 victory away to Shakhtar Donetsk in Champions League Group C.

Ilsinho's superb finish late in the first-half had given Shakhtar a precious lead and they looked set to take a deserved victory as they repelled Barca in the second half.

However the introduction of Messi, rested at the start by Pep Guardiola, with 30 minutes to go added incision to their possession - and they drew level in the 86th minute.

With the Shakhtar players stood expecting Barcelona to put the ball out of play so a player could receive treatment, referee Howard Webb waved play on and Bojan Krkic, also a substitute, took possession on the right.

His low ball across should have been dealt with by goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov, but he spilled the ball to the feet of Messi who passed it into the open goal.

And in stoppage time, Xavi threaded a pass through the home defence for the speeding Messi, whose deft chip over Pyatov from the left as the keeper went to ground sparked wild celebrations on the Barca bench.

Shakhtar had attacked with pace in the first-half with Brazilians Ilsinho, Luiz Adriano and the imposing Brandao causing problems on the break while captain Darijo Srna also had chances.

They took the lead in the 44th minute when Ilsinho raced through to hold off visiting captain Carles Puyol and dink the ball over the advancing Victor Valdes.

In contrast Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry were woeful up front for the Catalan club, with the Cameroon man missing a clear-cut one-on-one when he stumbled at the last.

Indeed their only spark prior to the arrival of Messi came from the dancing Andres Iniesta, who once again played in an advanced role.